Taiwan Stock Market Predicted To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking almost 60 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 16,580-point plateau and it's likely to spin its wheels again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious as the debt ceiling situation looks to enter the home stretch. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and cement stocks, while the technology and plastic sectors were mixed. For the day, the index lost 43.78 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 16,578.96 after trading between 16,491.90 and 16,636.65.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial fell 0.45 percent, while Mega Financial skidded 1.10 percent, CTBC Financial sank 0.82 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.41 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.39 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.47 percent, Largan Precision gained 0.44 percent, Catcher Technology declined 1.59 percent, MediaTek lost 0.52 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 0.80 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.47 percent, Formosa Plastics rallied 0.64 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was down 0.51 percent, Asia Cement eased 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement slumped 1.04 percent and China Steel, First Financial, Fubon Financial and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened solidly lower on Wednesday, making back some of the ground as the day progressed but still ending firmly in the red.

The Dow dropped 134.51 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 32,908.27, while the NASDAQ shed 82.14 points or 0.63 percent to close at 12,935.29 and the S&P 500 slumped 25.69 points or 0.61 percent to end at 4,179.83.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders kept a close eye on developments regarding the bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid potentially disastrous default. The debt bill, which advanced out of the House Rules Committee on Tuesday, is set to be voted on in the House any time now.

In economic news, the Labor Department said that job openings rose to 10.1 million in April from a revised 9.7 million in March. Economists had expected job openings to fall to 9.4 million.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday as worries about fuel demand resurfaced, while a stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July slumped $1.37 or 2 percent at $68.09 a barrel.